Gardener's Secret

Every day's a long day
when no one waits for you at night.
Every day's a long day
when no one waits for you at night.
Get no glory in the bedroom,
Lord, it sure does steal your shine.

Every cry is ugly
when your man done done you wrong.
Every cry is ugly
when your man done done you wrong.
Gotta weep like a woman scorned
when you tell the po-lice he up and gone.

Every crop's a bumper
when the soil is rich and right.
Every crop's a bumper
when the soil is rich and right.
A good gardener's got her secrets.
I plant dem bad seeds late at night.

White Flag

I whispered your name to the sunrise
when I was only half awake.
The emptiness that is my answer
is still a little hard to take.

I cut my hair as a sign of mourning.
The city cut the power off.
I cut the sheets and sewed a flag of surrender.
You're gone.

You're gone.
But, the world moves on.

I haven't eaten since the last time
someone asked when I last ate.
My friends gather to drink my coffee
and worry about my state.

I threw my keys at the repo man.
I couldn't find the will to run.
I cut the sheets and sewed a flag of surrender.
You're gone.

You're gone.
But, the world moves on.

For Marian's music prompt at Real Toads

Lunatics, Lovers, And Poets

Lunatics, lovers, and poets
see signs in the clouds
and hear whispers
from pictures they've taken.
They snip locks of hair
for lockets
to carry in pockets
stuffed full of talismans
and stare longingly at nothing.
Oh, to be
a lunatic, lover, or poet!
To know that a pill, a kiss, a rhyme
can cure all that ails you.

"The lunatic, the lover, and the poet, are of imagination all compact."

William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream

For Kerry's Challenge at Real Toads

The Light Loves You So

The light loves you so
that the sun hangs on in the sky
and refuses rest,
the moon waits
widow white and worthless
without the night,
and once proud time stands still.

I borrow my next breath
from your hands.

The light loves you so
that the sun bares its teeth at shadows,
the moon weeps,
and time sands itself smooth.

I drink dreams
and dine on drought.

The light loves you so
that the sun finally burns itself blind,
the moon creeps
wily
from the willows,
and time regains its fragile footing.

I am as much yours
as I was before.

For Open Link Night at dVerse

Bent

My every beat
and bone and breath
is bent
toward you

like a flower follows light
and swallows the sun

while still remaining rooted
and firmly fixed;

 a blossom breaking sky
 from broken ground.

For Open Link Monday at Real Toads